Glycemic and Insulinemic Responses to the Moderate-Carbohydrate Energy Bar :: Health Nutrition Diet Exercise Essays

Glycemic and Insulinemic Responses to the Moderate-Carbohydrate Energy Bar      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With Americans facing an ever-growing obesity epidemic, diets of all sorts have arisen to try and reduce the problem. One of which is the Atkins Diet, which reduces the carb intake in one's diet or substitutes other macronutrients to reduce high levels of insulin that slow down one's metabolism. With all the hype of low-carb diets, low-carb snacks and other foods have swept the grocery store shelves. In an attempt to measure the affect some of these foods have on blood glucose and insulin levels, a moderate-carb energy bar was tested and compared to two controls; white bread, having a high carb content and chicken breast, consisting of mostly protein with zero percent carbs. The results of the test showed a decrease in glucose in the blood after consuming the bar, but had no direct correlation to the insulin levels of the subjects in the study. Steven R. Hertzler and Yeonsoo Kim note in their article, "Glycemic and insulinemic responses to energy bars of macronutrient composition in healthy adults" that "there is currently little evidence to support that these plans, or the snack foods associated with them, can actually reduce insulinemia" and "carbohydrate is not the only macronutrient that influences the insulin response." (CR 85) This is shown in the experiment that was conducted. A number of steps were taken in controlling and carrying out the experiment. Twenty healthy individuals were recruited and volunteers were excluded if they had any history of diabetes or glucose intolerance. Each subject kept diet records three days prior to each test meal and were to include a minimum of 150g of carbohydrate in there diets per day. Blood samples were collected before the test began and after a fasting period to get readings of each subject's blood insulin levels and blood glucose levels without any interfering data.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The results showed a significant increase in blood glucose levels for the bar compared to the chicken breast. In comparison with the white bread, the bar's glucose levels peaked and quickly dropped much faster than the bread's glucose levels.